The Sixer Sense
Fansided

4 Young players for Philadelphia 76ers to develop, 3 to give up on

By Michael Saenz

(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia 76ers have pretty much operated under the radar so far this offseason. However, that will undoubtedly change over the next few weeks with the expectation that James Harden will eventually get traded.

Short of something unexpected happening, the belief is that the return for Harden, despite Dary Morey’s reported aspirations, may not be fair value. In other words, there’s an expectation that the Sixers are going to get an underwhelming return for Harden. If that ends up being the case, the onus to keep the Sixers afloat near the top of the Eastern Conference will at least somewhat fall on internal development.

Discerning between players worth developing and investing in will be a priority for the Sixers over the next few months. We explore four young players that should be willing to continue developing and three that may have played out their time with the Sixers.

Young players Philadelphia 76ers should be willing to develop and/or give up on

Develop: Tyrese Maxey

For Tyrese Maxey, the decision is a no-brainer. He’s the team’s best young player on the roster and, aside from Joel Embiid, probably represents the team’s best trade asset at the moment. Maxey is still just 22 years old and is continually getting better. Coming off a season in which he averaged 20 points, four assists, and three rebounds per game on 48 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent shooting from 3-point range, you can argue that he hasn’t even begun to hit his ceiling yet as a player.

If the Sixers were to trade Maxey, it would almost have to be for a star. Even then, there are hesitations from the front office in potentially doing so. For right now, Maxey is off-limits as he probably should be.

As blurry as the Sixers’ future may look at the moment, with the uncertainty revolving around James Harden, there’s no question that Maxey is going to play a big part in the team’s next 5-10 years. And the hope is that he becomes a star and one of the faces of the franchise.